In a shocking turn of events involving intra-party political tensions, YSRCP leader Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy lashed out at former Rajya Sabha MP Vijayasai Reddy, following the latter’s resignation from Parliament a few days ago. Jagan accused his one-time trusted aide of switching sides to join the opposition, especially TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Reacting to Vijayasai Reddy’s critical remarks against him, Jagan said the former MP had “lost credibility” and was attempting to dissociate himself from the controversial liquor scam involving Kasireddy Rajasekhar. Jagan alleged that Vijayasai’s shift in stance stemmed from the realization that he may not be renominated to the Rajya Sabha due to YSRCP’s reduced legislative strength.
Jagan was not one to beat around the bush when he claimed Vijayasai was politically pressured into going with Chandrababu Naidu in order to remain pertinent in Andhra Pradesh’s ever-changing power game. Jagan raised doubts about any statement issued by Vijayasai, saying his political integrity had been undermined.
Refocusing on the overall liquor scam case, Jagan directly challenged Chandrababu Naidu to produce evidence that even one connected file had ever gone through the Chief Minister’s Office while he was in power. He completely ruled out any role of YSRCP MP Mithun Reddy in the scam and condemned the existing coalition government for supposedly targeting senior IAS and IPS officials indiscriminately.
He also identified officials such as Kanthi Rana, Joshua, and Vishal Gunni, claiming they were unjustly being subjected to administrative harassment by the incumbent regime.
Jagan expressed grave doubts about the arrests of people like Dhanunjaya Reddy, Krishnamohan Reddy, and Balaji Govindappa, claiming that all of them did not have direct connections with the liquor case. He also claimed that Kasireddy Rajasekhar was included as an accused only because he had declined to become an approver.
While referring to Chandrababu Naidu’s continuing legal woes in the context of the liquor scam, Jagan noted that the TDP’s chief is currently out on bail. Jagan charged that the previous TDP government had created a chain of illegal liquor shops, which allegedly ran with ministers and MLAs keeping watch over them.
“If the state government operates liquor outlets in the open, where is the question of bribes?” Jagan asked, substantiating the claims of his party regarding corruption-free governance.
In summary, Jagan branded the liquor scam story as a cynical ploy by Chandrababu Naidu to stifle opposition and divert public opinion away from his own governance shortcomings. He called it a politically motivated propaganda campaign to weaken the YSRCP and mislead the public
